GhettoWay
by 2CentSodapop
Summary: What would happen if there was a third person to Bob's murder? Johnny, Ponyboy, and Derrick are forced to run away when Johnny kills a Soc. (Same as Outsiders, with another character) My first fanfic! please read and review
1. Get Away

**Chapter One**

I stepped out into the living room, creeping along silently. I had had enough. I was out of there. I passed the hallway to the back door, heading for the front one. It didn't squeak so much. My backpack was tossed over my shoulder, hanging open. I had a few changes of clothes and some food. Also my switchblade, just in case I ended up in a sticky situation.

I opened the door. It squeaked a tiny bit, and I glanced back over my shoulder before squeezing out the door and taking off silently down the dark street. Every once in a while, I would come to a street light, which was lighting my way, but most of them flickered off and on at night, and no one bothered to try to change them. So I ended up sort of stumbling down the street. After a few blocks, my pack began to get heavy. I switched it to the other shoulder. I stopped at the bus stop on the other side of town and slept on the cold hard bench until the first bus came at 6:30 the next morning.

I woke up to the sound of squeaking jake brakes. The bus was here. I got up and rubbed my eyes, stretching my arms over my head before I pulled out a quarter and hopped on the bus. I rode it until it stopped at the edge of the city.

"All stops here. Everybody must get off unless you're riding back to the first stop." The bus driver instructed. I stood up slowly. _Guess this is as far as I go in this department of transportation._ I thought, climbing down the steps to the asphalt below. I stood as the bus departed, leaving behind a cloud of grey smoke. I coughed, waving it away with my hand. I looked both ways down the street. Both looked equally….risky. I decided to head straight into the sun, which was in front of me.

After walking for about three hours, I saw a bike in a parking lot. The building looked run down, and there was no one around. _Maybe someone just abandoned it,_ I thought, trying to make myself feel better about stealing it. I walked over cautiously, almost waiting for someone to jump out and say "Aha!". No one did as I approached the bike. It was tomato red, with a little bell on the handle bars. _That will have to go._ I thought, hopping on. I quickly gained speed, looking back over my shoulder. No one was following me, and I slowly relaxed. _Everything's gonna be OK,_ I thought.

After about another three hours, I figured I was far enough away for one day. I crashed at the side of the road under the neon lights of a sign that read "The Dingo".


	2. A Place to Stay

**Chapter 2**

I woke up to the crunching to gravel. I kept my eyes closed, telling myself I had just forgotten to close my window last night. Slowly I opened them, and everything came into view. I was laying under a neon sign that read "The Dingo." The crunching of gravel had been someone's footsteps. That someone was heading for me. _Oh shit._ I thought, fumbling for my bag and switchblade. They stopped and smiled. I realized I must have looked rather stupid. I stopped and looked up at the person. It was a boy about my age. He had a large scar across his cheek and looked rather scared to bet there. I noticed his eyes were black. I cleared my throat. "Um….hi. I'm Derrick O'Connel." I said. He looked relieved that I wasn't about to attack him and then said "Hi. I'm Johnny. Johnny Cade." He stuck out his hand for me to shake, and I stood up and shook it. "So….where exactly am I?" I asked, looking around. I knew I wasn't in my home-town anymore, because I knew that place like the back of my hand, and this definitely wasn't it. "Tulsa." He said, looking at me curiously. "You new here?" He asked. "Uh….you could say that." I said, rubbing my arm where I had slept on it. My hand was asleep.

I must have looked pretty pitiful standing there like that, because another kid about my age came up. "Hey, Johnnycake, you coming or what?" He asked. "We're all waiting for you inside." I glanced inside to see who "we" was. I couldn't tell, there were too many people. "Uh, yeah, in a sec Ponyboy." Johnny replied. _Ponyboy? What kind of name is that?_ I thought, looking at him quizzically. He looked right back. "Oh right. Pony, this is Derrick. Derrick, Pony." I nodded at Ponyboy. "He's new here." Johnny continued. Ponyboy looked as if he didn't trust me, but then lightened up a little. "OK, cool. So I guess we'll see you around, huh Derrick?" He said, getting ready to turn and leave.

"Hey wait a sec. You know where I could find a place to stay for a while? I don't know how long I'll be here." I said, glancing around. There was no sign of a motel and even if there was, I didn't have money to pay with. He nodded. "Yeah, come with me." We walked inside and sat down with a bunch of other guys.

"Guys, this is Derrick. He's new in town and wants a place to stay." He looked at the oldest one there. "So Darry, what do you say? Can he stay with us?" The big guy looked at me and then nodded.

"Really? Hey thanks!" I said, brimming over with happiness. I still didn't know any of the guy's names other than Ponyboy and Johnny, so I looked to Ponyboy. "Oh right. Derrick, this is Darry," the big one nodded, "Sodapop," a handsome one nodded, "they're my brothers." Ponyboy added. "and that's Two-Bit, Steve and Dally." The other guys nodded. I wondered vaguely about the name Two-Bit but then brushed it out of my mind. "Really, thanks for letting me stay at your place! You don't know how much it means to me!" I said, extended my hand to Darry. He shook it. "Oh, I think I do." He said quietly.

**Author's notes:**

I know its not all that exciting, but it should get a little better. At least I hope so. It's my first fan fic, so please read and review, I really need some pointers here! Thanks for reading it!


	3. People WHo Care

**Chapter 3 **

When we got to the Curtis's house, it looked sort of run down. I knew we were on the "bad" side of the tracks, but hey, if they lent me a place to stay, I wasn't complaining. They had even bought me breakfast at The Dingo. _These guys sure are real nice, _I thought, walking in the house after everyone else had. Everyone sort of crashed on the couches and chairs when we went in, so I was left to either stand or sit on the floor. I sprawled on the floor and propped myself up on my elbows, looking around.

"So Derrick, why did you come here of all places?" Darry asked. I noticed he carefully avoided asking why I ran away in the first place. I was glad. "I didn't pick to come here. I just sort of showed up. I stole that bike in some little town and rode it till I got too tired to go any farther. I woke up this morning when Johnny came over." I said, looking over at Johnny. He laughed a little bit and then said, "Yeah, and you should've seen the look on your face, man, you were scared to death!" He did an exaggerated impression of a huge eyes and a round "O" mouth. I threw a pillow at him.

"You? Our little Johnnycake? Scared of you? I don't think so." Two-Bit said, laughing. He looked at me. I sighed, "Yeah, I was scared actually. Everything's kind of scary when you don't know where you are and you wake up on gravel." Johnny grinned sheepishly. Dally fidgeted in his chair.

"So guys. What are we gonna do today? I'm going to a movie tonight. Anybody wanna come?" He asked, looking around. Steve and Sodapop shook their heads no, and so did Darry. Ponyboy thought about it. "Me and Johnny'll come." He said. "Yeah, me too." I said, nodding. A movie actually sounded good right then. Dally nodded. "Two-Bit what about you? Where you going tonight?" He asked. "Oh I don't know. Prolly go around town looking for a party. Might join you if I don't find one." He said.

Darry looked at the clock, then at Sodapop and Steve. "Well, guys we better get going. Don't want to be late for work." Soda got up and threw a shoe at Steve. "Come on man, we gotta go." Steve got up, grumbling. We watched as they all walked out the door. Sodapop hopped in the driver's side before Darry could get there and then grinned like a maniac when Darry handed over the keys. He stuck them in the ignition and they peeled out of the driveway, Steve faking throwing up out the side window before they disappeared around the turn. I smiled and turned back around in time to see Two-Bit get up and walk out. He waved over his shoulder as he walked off down the street.

**Author's Notes**

I know that wasn't a very interesting or long chapter, but I need to cover the little stuff so it ties the ends together at the end of the story.


	4. Nightly Double

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters, only Derrick O'Connel. The rest belong to our most beloved S.E. Hinton.

**Chapter 4**

As we walked toward the movie theater, I looked around. It was a drive-in, but we weren't headed for the main entrance. We were going toward a chain link fence.

"Guys? Where are you going? The entrance is that way," I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder to indicate the direction.

"Yeah, that's the bum's way in. This is _our_ way in." Dally said, gesturing toward the fence. I noticed a spot underneath where it looked like someone had dug a deep hole in order to get under the fence. Sure enough, Ponyboy knelt down and got on his back as if he was working under a car, and slid under the fence, pulling himself up on the other side. He glanced around, then nodded. Johnny went next, then Dally. I followed them uncertainly, pulling myself through, but not nearly as smoothly as they all had. We continued walking toward the seats where people could sit. Dally saw two girls sitting in the front row, and went to sit right behind them. Pony and Johnny exchanged glances, and I got a bad feeling in my gut. Dally propped his feet up on the red-head's chair and leaned forward, whispering something in her ear. She shook her head impatiently, then turned around and glared at him. She turned back toward the front rapidly upon seeing who had whispered. I had heard from Johnny that Dallas Winston was a name everyone around Tulsa knew, and knew to stay away from. I vaguely wondered what I was doing, sitting there next to him. I tried really hard to concentrate on the movie. He leaned forward once again, and this time I heard what he said. I sucked in a sharp breath, fixating my eyes on the screen, determined not to listen. But no matter how hard I tried, I felt my eyes get wide, and my breathing ragged.

The girl turned around angrily. "Get your feet off my chair and shut your trap." Dally looked surprised. Suddenly a smile crossed his face.

"Can I interest you in a Coke?" He asked, burying his face in her hair. She shrugged him off.

"Leave us alone or we'll call the cops!" She burst out, looking as if her eyes were on fire.

"Oh my my, the cops! Baby, you ought to see my record sometime. Why don't you just guess what I'm in for?" He smiled maliciously, then got up and walked off. I thought maybe he had left, but he came back about 15 minutes and handed us all a coke, including the girl. He sat down next to her, sipping on his coke.

"Thought this might cool you off," He said, smiling at her. She glared back, then pulled her arm back and flung her coke all over him. He wiped his face off.

"Maybe that'll cool you off, greaser, and when you learn to talk and act decent, maybe I'll cool off too." She said, turning back to the front. He attempted to wrap his arms around her.

"Firey, huh? Just the way I like 'em." She struggled under his arms, and Johnny stood up angrily.

"Lay off Dal." His face went white when Dally glared up at him.

"What did you say? What did you say to me?" He asked, practically shouting. A few people shushed him.

"You heard me, lay off." Johnny said, more quietly this time. Dally took his hands off of her and stood up quickly. He looked like he was about to explode. He stalked off, with all of us gazing after him. The girl looked at Johnny and smiled.

"Thank you. You had me scared to death." She said appreciatively.

"Sure didn't show it. Ain't nobody talk to Dal like that." Johnny said, sitting back down.

"From what I saw, you do." She said, smiling again. Ponyboy introduced us all to her, ending with himself.

"Ok. I'm Cherry. Ponyboy…that's an original name." She said, her eyes kind as she looked at Pony.

"Yeah, well my father, he was an original person. I got a brother named Sodapop. Even says so on his birth certificate." Ponyboy, shifting uncomfortably. I wondered briefly why he was uncomfortable, but brushed the thought away when Cherry asked us if we wanted to sit up by them to protect them. Ponyboy and Johnny at each other and shrugged and then looked to me. I nodded in agreement, and we all moved to sit up by the girls. A little bit more small talk later, we sat in silence watching the movie. I looked down the row of people to the end where Johnny was sitting. Suddenly a hand came down on his shoulder and another on Pony's. When Johnny's face went white and he closed his eyes and Ponyboy looked like he was about to pop with fear, I figured maybe it was one of the Socs they had told me about. I dared to look over Ponyboy's head to see who it was. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding in when I saw that it was Two-Bit.

"Two-Bit, you old fool! What are you doing here scaring us all like that?" I asked, rubbing my knee like I always did when I was nervous.

"Sorry Johnny, forgot." Two-Bit said, taking his hand off Johnny's shoulder and ruffling his hair up. Ponyboy looked down the row at him.

"Come on Two-Bit you know better than to scare ole Johnny like that." Johnny still did look sort of white. Two-Bit shrugged nonchalantly, and the movie proceeded with a little bit of small-talk between Marcia and Two-Bit. Cherry and Pony got up a little while later to get some popcorn, but other than that, it was almost silent until the movie was over.

**Author's Notes:**

I know I didn't have everything in there that S.E. Hinton has in the Outsiders, but I figured you'd all read the book anyway, so you sort of know the dilio. OK well, R&R please! I need more reviews to know if this is going in the right direction or not.

TC


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